HTC’s Mogul (PPC-6800) debuted at the top of Sprint’s smartphone lineup, taking the place of the much beloved
PPC-6700. A Windows Mobile 6 Pocket PC device backed by Sprint’s Power Vision EV-DO network and HTC’s impressive track record of solid hardware design, Mogul brought with it high expectations from power users looking for a compact, versatile way to stay connected. I took Mogul with me on a three-week trip across the US and came home duly impressed. HTC did a great job designing a compact device with a quality touchscreen and excellent slide-out QWERTY board. And Sprint’s network continues to impress me.
While Windows Mobile has never been my favorite smartphone operating system, its impossible to deny its extensive user base, capacity to sync with corporate networks, and the myriad installable applications available to extend its functionality. WM6 is more about under the hood tweaks than a full-on redesign, and while I still have my issues with the platform, Windows Mobile on Mogul made for a pleasant - and very productive - experience all in all.
Mogul looks like the PocketPC device it is, what with its large front-mounted touchscreen and lack of anything resembling a dialing keypad. It’s quite similar in appearance to the HTC-manufactured Cingular (AT&T) 8525, in fact. The device is finished in a smart, understated silver grey plastic that’s smooth on the front and sides and ridged on the back panel. The exception to the all-grey color scheme comes in the form of a slide-out QWERTY keypad that’sblack with white and blue labels.
Considering all that Mogul does, 110 x 59 x 19 mm of size and 164g of weight really isn’t bad. Mogul comes with an HTC-branded hip holster for safe-keeping, but if you don’t mind endangering that nice, big touchscreen (or fit it with a screen protector), you can pretty easily slip the device into your jacket or pants pocket. Unless you rock those skintight jeans. I don’t - I actually wore cargo shorts quite a bit while reviewing this phone, and it fit very well into either the hip or lower pockets of every pair of shorts I happened to try it with. But enough about my fashion sense ...
Mogul’s screen is flanked by buttons for Email and Web (there’s that Internet Explorer logo!) and dual LED status lights on the top and a control array below that features a circular D-pad, two softkeys, a Windows key, an OK key, and call and cancel buttons finished in silver for higher visibility amidst all of that grey. That’s a fair number of buttons and we’re not even on to the sides or QWERTY drawer - but trust me, all of those buttons made Mogul much easier to use once you learn what they’re there for. Flip the device over and the back panel is one big removable battery cover save the circular area in one corner that houses the 2MP camera’s sensor and flash assist light.
The right side of the device holds a nifty button that takes you straight to the Communication Manager (for managing your various wireless connectivity options) along with camera and power buttons and a slot in the corner that holds the stylus. Along the left side there’s a thumbwheel that scrolls and pushes in, an OK button (which replicates the one on the front), a dedicated voice recorder key, and an on-off switch for the integrated Wi-Fi antenna. That Wi-Fi switch is the kind of thing that’s earned HTC a devoted following amongst smartphone users -- WiFi’s great when you’re using it but it also drains precious battery life, so it makes sense to have access to turning it on/off without having to dig through a bunch of menus. Mogul’s bottom edge houses an infrared port, mini USB port (used for charging, data transfer, and headphones), reset button, and microSD card slot.
Phew. But we’re not done yet. A nice, solid, spring-assisted mechanism controls the slide-out QWERTY keyboard that is Mogul’s calling card. If you want, you can find debates around the Web as to which of HTC’s smartphones packs the best QWERTY board of them all. I’ll stay out of that one for now, and merely offer that thumb typing on Mogul’s keyboard was an extremely pleasant experience (at least for me - I’ve read reviews calling Mogul’s keypad “mushy”). The keys are roomy, finished in a nice tactile soft-touch plastic, and give good feedback. Access to Alt keys, symbols, and the like is about as good as can be expected on a device that fits in a pocket instead of taking up a desk. In addition to the QWERTY layout, there’s a four-key cursor control array, yet another OK key, another Windows key, and two more softkeys. Again, lots of buttons but they’re intelligently laid out and honestly are all there for good reason.
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4.5
